Few Republicans have made it onto MSNBC air during the network's Dem convention coverage, but even that is apparently too much for Keith Olbermann. As Chris Matthews was interviewing GOP consultant Mike Murphy in the interlude between Bill Clinton and Joe Biden tonight, Olbermann could be heard off-camera angrily demanding "let's wrap him up, alright?"
It was Murphy's surmise that, in the privacy of the polling booth, Bill and Hilary would pull the lever for McCain that seemed to set Olbermann off, prompting him to call for the hook.
MIKE MURPHY: I think Hillary and Bill Clinton are the happiest people in town because they came, they both crushed in good speeches, and they left. And now they can go do what I would bet money they'll do which is quietly vote for John S. McCain. I believe that. I believe it. I believe it.
The crowd booed lustily.
HAROLD FORD, JR.: I think Mike wants to rattle this crowd and rattle us here, on set.
After Ford gave his take, Matthews challenged not merely Murphy's prediction, but his reputation.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me ask you Mike: are we to, to place the credibility of you as a pundit on your belief, that you've just asserted, that the Clintons will vote for John McCain?
MURPHY: Absolutely. I really believe Hillary Clinton will vote for McCain. Look, they're friends. [Crowd boos]. Ah, come on, don't shout me down: let me talk. I mean come on, this is, you guys are so in the tank we ought to be filming this on a submarine. The fact is, Barack Obama, to his credit, has moved closer to Hillary Clinton and John McCain on foreign policy, Hillary and John McCain have worked --
MATTHEWS: That's an argument -- that's not what I'm asking you.
MURPHY: I really believe --
MATTHEWS: Mike, let me get back to --
It was then that Olbermann could be heard angrily off-camera.
KEITH OLBERMANN: Let's wrap him up, alright?
Perhaps Chris didn't want to be outdone in insulting his guest:
MATTHEWS: I want to ask this question, Mike. You say the audience out there is biased. Where would you find an audience in sane America who would agree with you?
This is not the first time this week that Olbermann has been heard editorializing off camera. As NewsBuster P. J. Gladnick has noted, Olbermann was caught on an open mic dissing Joe Scarborough earlier this week. As MSNBC tilts ever further left, has Olbermann effectively become its Executive Producer and Director?
Note: According to this cached version of a NY Post story, Olbermann has had it in for Murphy, angling to keep him off the air all week. H/t Politico.
